Benfica 4 - P Ferreira 1 - First home win of 08

Benfica holds on to second place with their first home win of 2008 over P. Ferreira by the score of 4-1. Benfica dominated P. Ferreira for most of the game to do what they haven't done in 3 months, win at home.


It was Chalana's first home game since he took over as interim coach. For this game Chalana started the following players:

Quim in goal; Nelson, Edcarlos, Katsouranis and Leo in the back. Petit was the lobe defensive midfielder while, Rui Costa, Rodriguez and Maxi composed the rest of the midfield. Up front it was Nuno Gomes as the drawn back forward to Cardozo.

A straightforward line up, with Chalana opting to leave the the workhorse Binya on the bench, while giving Maxi the start on the right, a position the Uruguayan has played countless of times this season.

Benfica started well, playing quick and emphasizing the short game while keeping possession. This seems to be Chalana's preferred method of play - possession in the midfield in order to dominate the game and create chances.
Benfica had their first warning at the 9 minute mark when Rui Costa fired a dangerous shot, that was corresponded by a good save by the P.Ferreira keeper.
Benfica's dominance was obvious, and would eventually go up on the scoreboard after a Rodriguez rocket from 25 yards out. Rodriguez saw himself free of a marker in the middle of the field and fired a shot past the P. Ferreira goalie to put Benfica up on the scoreboard. Benfica justified the advantage as they had been the dominating team up until that point.
Unlike the past games, Benfica kept on the same level of game they had shown until the goal. Although not a devastating, demolishing game, Benfica did enough to show that they were the only team with intentions to win. P. Ferreira very rarely threatened Benfica, and their incursions into Benfica's defensive area were few and far between. It was from one of few attacking incursions that P.Ferreira reached the equalizer. After a lost ball, the P. Ferreira forward chased a ball down towards the corner flag, with Nelson in close pursuit, the P. Ferreira player opted to slow down and let the chasing Nelson hit his leg, the P Ferreira went down in the box, and the referee decided to call a penalty.
40 minutes into the the first half and Benfica had been dealt an unjust blow to what they had done up until that point in the half.
Benfica went into the locker room feeling the unfairness of the scoreboard, Benfica was the dominating and the only team that looked to win the game, on the other side, P. Ferreira tried to defend as best they could, and hoped that by keeping the game close, they could frustrate Benfica into making bad decisions and eventually get the much needed tie.
Benfica came out strong in the second half, dominating much like they had in the first half, but failed to make an immediate impact on the scoreboard. Chalana subbed in DiMaria for Maxi, in a move that would make Benfica's midfield a more attacking prone unit.
Benfica would eventually go up on the scoreboard in the 69th minute, after Cardozo took advantage of a clear shot opportunity inside the box, firing a shot, that tricked the P.Ferreira keeper with a deflection.
It was Cardozo's 20th goal of the season in all competitions for Benfica, a plateau established by Luis Felipe Vieira for the Paraguayan, when he was initially questioned by the Portuguese media if Cardozo was really worth $9m.

Benfica wouldn't look back from then on, and would eventually get the "rest easy" goal in the 74th minute, on a sublime Rui Costa free kick. Chalana subbed in Mantorras in the 79th minute for Nuno Gomes, in order to refresh the attack.
The maestro would put the icing on the cake 6 minutes after that, putting the scoreboard at 4-1 in the 85th minute.
Before the referee put an end to the game Binya still had a chance to touch the ball, when he came in for Cardozo in the 86th minute.

Individually:

Quim - 6 - not much work tonight.
Nelson - 7
Edcarlos - 6
Katsouranis - 6
Leo - 7
Petit - 7
Maxi - 6
Rui Costa -8
Rodriguez - 8
NuNo Gomes - 7
Cardozo - 8

Mantorras - 6
Binya - not enough time
DiMaria - 6 - only one play comes to mind - a play in which he took off from the midfield, only to be fouled in front of the box, a foul that resulted in Rui Costas', sensational free kick.

MOM-Rui Costa

Overall Benfica played well, maintained possession and was able to establish a flow of game. The final third inefficiencies continue to exist, but are now less evident because of the dominance the midfield. Benfica continues to hold on to second place in the Bwin but has a very hard upcoming game against Boavista.

Chalana stated that the players have been happy and confident in training, and that if that same happiness and confidence was carried on to the field, then Benfica would have no problems in winning their games.

If you ask me, there's a noticeable difference in this Benfica team. Despite playing the next to last team, Benfica was able to show a change from two weeks ago, and that can only be a good sign as they approach the final games of the season, with still alot at stake.
These two weeks seem to have started something within the team, let's hope that it's not just a flash in the pan, and that the team can build up on tonight's win.

Cardozo Goal

Rest of the goals



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